Titles
by dabbling
Summary: In order to challenge myself with some new prompts, I decided to use other people's titles as a prompt. The use of the titles is not an endorsement of other people's work: honestly, there are some I haven't even read! I just thought the title would serve as a good jumping off place. These should all be short stories. Rating subject to change as I add more chapters.
1. Breathe

Breathe

The muscles in her neck and shoulders were like a brick wall. Eames' eyes darted back and forth, scanning the darkness for anything out of the ordinary. Her ears were searching the night sounds, but all she heard were the typical noises of her neighborhood: a few cars on the road, Mr. Kretchgie's television blaring through his cracked window, the baby crying at the duplex next door.

 _Breathe,_ Alex told herself. She stepped into her apartment and took a few gulps of air, finally letting her body sag against the open door until it slid into place and latched. _Breathe,_ she said again.

That's when she realized she was trembling. Alex flipped on the living room light, closed the deadbolt on the door and slid down to the floor. She put her shaking hands against her face and sobbed.

* * *

Bobby smiled at her. It was that same huge smile he seemed to have every time she saw him lately. The one he'd had on at the hospital, the one he had every morning when she'd returned to work.

Alex gave him a small smile of her own.

"I gotcha a coffee," he said quietly, nodding his head at the cup on her desk.

"Thanks, Bobby," she said quietly.

"Sleep okay?"

Her smile faded and she shrugged. Her left should still didn't move as easily as her right, and Bobby notice the lopsidedness of the movement. "I guess," she replied.

"You saw Olivet when, Monday?"

Alex knew he only asked because he cared, but it bothered her that he knew so much about her personal life. She mashed her lips together and pretended she hadn't heard the question.

"Eames?" he persisted.

"Uh, no," she said sharply. "I, uh, rescheduled this week."

"R-rescheduled? For when?"

She raised her head and gave him a look of disapproval. Bobby didn't back down. "You know, Bobby, I don't really think you need to be worried with the details, okay?"

"You're not quitting, right?" he asked suddenly.

 _Of course,_ Eames thought, _it has to be about him. If I quit therapy, I won't get cleared beyond desk duty, and then Bobby will get assigned a new partner—"_

"Alex?" his quiet voice interrupted her thoughts.

She looked up into his eyes and realized that voice wasn't doing her any favors. "Uh, I just decided to skip a week. I go back next Monday," she said.

"Why would you skip?" he asked, and again she saw only concern in his eyes.

 _Breathe,_ Alex said to herself. She drew in the air, held it, then let it go slowly. "I gotta guage for myself once in a while… if it's working."

He didn't respond right away, but he stared at her.. looked right through her, really. "Is it? Working?"

Alex suddenly had to gulp back tears. She swallowed hard and turned her head away, trying to hide behind a lock of hair that fell in her face.

"C'mon," he was suddenly saying in her ear. "Let's get some air."

The tips of two fingers toughed her elbow, and Alex found herself walking beside him out of the squad room. She rubbed her eyes wearily in the elevator, and by the time they made it outside she supposed he hadn't noticed the tears.

The morning air was still cool, and Alex was surprised at how much better it made her feel. They walked a block or so, and she finally made eye contact with him.

He didn't pressure her. He looked away a few times, but his eyes always returned to hers.

"I keep having these… panic attacks, I guess," she admitted. "Especially after dark."

He scratched the back of his head, nodding, considering what she'd said. "You told Olivet about them?"

Alex almost chuckled. Instead, she nodded. "Yeah."

"What was her advice?"

"To breathe." He didn't respond right away, and Alex wondered if he'd heard her. She turned her head and looked up at him.

Bobby had heard. His gaze was full of something… sadness, she supposed. In an unusual gesture, he reached his arm out and wrapped it around her shoulder. Bobby squeezed her for a moment, then let her go. "Breathe," he whispered, and took a deep breath himself, trying it out.

The two detectives stood shoulder to shoulder, watching the morning pedestrians hurrying to work.

They had already said it all, anyway, in the first week after she'd been released from the hospital.

 _It's not your fault, Bobby._

 _I'm here for you, Eames._

Knowing that didn't make it any easier for either of them.

After a time, Eames tapped her petite hand, twice, against Bobby's bicep. Without a word, they turned and walked back to 1PP, to Major Case, to their future.

 _Breathe._


	2. Bound to You

Bound to You

" _You worried about what she said? That your career is tainted by me?"_

" _I used to."_

" _Now?"_

" _It's too late."_

It was a long, quiet weekend. Alex wondered, several times, what her partner might be doing. She knew he took it hard, what she said. She felt some remorse, but she also felt good about it. It was the truth. She'd committed herself to him, for better or for worse, a long time ago. Really, it was about time he realized the extent of her sacrifice.

She'd been passed over for promotion more times than she cared to count, and it never really bothered her until recently.

Alex scoffed. Who was she kidding? It didn't bother her until she found out he went out with that LeZard woman. He said it was in the context of the job, but he'd neglected to inform her.

She felt like a jilted wife.

And of course, if their relationship had been a marriage, she would have been way past considering divorce. That happened long ago. Now she was resigned to it all. This was her life. He was her partner. This was as good as it was going to get.

Alex cleaned her apartment, watched a few movies, and had a few drinks. It was a very quiet weekend.

* * *

"Goren, I don't know what's keeping you, but we have a case. If you don't make an appearance soon, the Captain's going to notice." Alex frowned as she ended the call. Even if he was upset with her, it was unlike him to just no-show for work. She took a deep breath and started working on the paperwork for the Snomint case.

"Where's Goren?" Ross asked an hour later as he walked past her desk.

"He's, uh… not here." Her knee-jerk reaction was to cover for her partner. A lie was on the tip of her tongue. _He had a flat, he's at the dentist, his Super wants to remodel his apartment…_ She bit her tongue and stared at the Captain.

"I can see that, Eames. Where the hell is he?"

She shook her head and sighed. "I don't know. He hasn't called in."

Ross frowned. "You try to call him?"

She nodded. "About an hour ago."

Ross' eyebrows twisted a little. "You two having problems?"

Again, the heavy sigh. "Some," she admitted. "But he had the whole weekend. I thought he'd be over it by now."

Ross pulled out his own cell and dialed. "Goren, this is Ross, wondering if something's wrong. Give me a call." He pushed the "end" button and frowned at Eames. "If he hasn't called in by lunch, I want you to find him."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Eames had a knot in her gut by the time she walked into his apartment building. While Bobby was erratic and somewhat unpredictable, his job was his anchor. He never no-showed and he was rarely late. And even if he was angry with her, he always returned her calls… eventually. She was convinced that something was wrong, and her feelings of guilt over what she'd said the day before were winning out over all of her other emotions.

She gave the doorman a polite smile. "Lucian's not here?" she asked politely.

"No, ma'am, he's called in sick today. Can I help you?" The new man was in his mid 20's, tall and lanky, with deep brown skin. He had a winning smile.

"Yeah, I just wanted to see my partner, Robert Goren?"

The man referenced his list, picked up the phone, and dialed. "I'm sorry, he's not answering."

"He didn't answer when I called his cell, either. Look, can I just go up and knock? I'm really worried about him."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. Kind of defeats the purpose of having a doorman if I just let people in." Again, he flashed the smile.

Alex really was worried, though. She pulled out her shield and flashed it at him. "Would this make a difference?"

He chuckled. "Yes, ma'am, it sure would." He pressed the buzzer that unlocked the door and she hurried through it and up the stairs.

At his door, she paused. Her neck hairs were tingling, which was never a good thing. She approached cautiously, stood on the hinge side with her hand near her Glock, and rapped on the door with her knuckles. "Bobby? Bobby, it's me."

Still, she heard nothing. She knocked again. "Bobby?" She drew her weapon, convinced that there was something very wrong.

The door opened a crack.

"Eames." It was Bobby's voice, but not Bobby's eye that peeked at her from the opened door.

"You're Eames?" the stranger smiled and opened the door a little further. "You don't need that. I'm Matt." He held out his open hand. Eames replaced her gun in the holster and reached forward to shake the man's hand.

"Eames, don't! It's a trap!" Bobby cried, and she heard a thud as Matt yanked her inside the apartment.

She fought him, elbowing him hard in the ribs and using his hold on her to flip him over her back. Once Matt was on the floor, she stood and drew her weapon, only to find another man with a gun held inches away from Bobby's head. On the floor, Goren's hands and feet were tied and he was slumped against the side of the couch, unconscious.

"I'll kill him, bitch!" the second man warned her. "All I gotta do is move one finger!"

Her hand dropped slowly, and Matt snatched her weapon from her hand. "On your knees," Matt ordered quietly, but before she had the chance to comply, the other man stepped forward and pounded her with the heavy gun.

Everything went black.

* * *

Pain was what woke her. Not just the throbbing in her head, but the ache that seemed to be running from her bicep all the way to the tips of her fingers. Alex grunted and tried to shift, but her arms wouldn't budge. She opened her eyes.

"Eames?" His voice was almost a whisper.

"Goren? We're tied up!" She tugged at the ropes around her wrists again, but had no luck freeing herself.

"Are you okay?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, you?"

"I think so."

Alex growled in frustration. Not only were her hands tied, but her ankles were, too. She tried one more time to free herself, and only succeeded in dropping backward with such force that the back of her head smacked against the back of her partner's.

"Ow!" he cried, in unison with her. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Alex wondered why he was cussing. Then she heard the door open, and the guy who'd knocked her in the head was in the room. "They're awake!" he called out to his friend.

Matt entered. He walked a slow circle around them. "You may find yourself wondering, 'why am I here?' I'll tell you why. You have a debt to pay."

"A… a debt?" Bobby asked quietly, using his least confrontational tone.

"That's right."

"To who?"

"To me. To my little brother, my cousin, my Mom, and my Dad."

"Let me guess, we arrested one of them."

"You didn't just arrest him. You tricked him, made him admit to a crime he didn't commit!"

"He's innocent?" Bobby said. "What's his name?"

"Nelson. Nelson Healey."

Bobby tried to get past the pounding in his head to place the name. "The-the-the Gunther murders."

Alex raised her head in recognition. It was an arrest they'd made in the first year they'd worked together. The Gunther twins were high school girls who had been kidnapped, raped, and murdered. Their evidence against Healey was circumstantial, but Bobby worked his magic in the interrogation room, and the man confessed.

"Why are you holding us?" Alex asked. "Why not just kill us and get it over with?"

Bobby didn't care for the tone of her question, but it was a valid question, nonetheless. He licked his lips and tried to turn his eyes far enough to see their captor.

"Because the entire state of New York is going to witness your death. Justice will be served!" Matt looked over at his accomplice. "Make sure their ropes are still tight." He left quickly, leaving Bobby and Alex to wince at the vicious tugs of the second thug.

"Murdering cops… that's bad news. You sure you wanna go down with him?" Bobby asked the man, ignoring the pain as best he could.

"Shut up, pig."

"Look, I'm just… I'm just looking out for you. I mean, you… you got people, you know, people who care about you… what's your name?"

"You can call me 'Sir,'" he punctuated his sentence by kicking Goren in the thigh hard enough to make him yelp. Then the man left the room.

"You okay?" Alex whispered once they were alone.

"Ah… shit… yes," Bobby answered, gritting his teeth.

"Brother, cousin, Mom… I'm guessing we're waiting for Mom to get here?" Alex breathed.

"Yeah, I don't know. 'Sir' is either brother or cousin. I don't know who else—"

"The doorman."

"What?"

"When I got to your building, they said that Lucian was sick. The guy, he had a smile like Matt's."

"So he's the brother and Sir Kicksalot is the cousin." Bobby twisted his body a little, wishing he could rub the ache in his leg away. He managed to put his bound ankles at an angle. "Eames… I've got my switchblade…" He studied the cargo shorts he was wearing. "It was in the side pocket on my pants leg. There's a hole, it slipped down… it's down at the hem, now. Maybe if I…" He jerked his legs, trying to bend his knees further back. "You could reach it?" he whispered fiercely.

Alex sprung into action, stretching her eyes to see his position and then her hands to reach as far back as she could. Her shirt rode up and she felt the cold floor against the skin of her side.

"That's it, that's it!" Bobby breathed. "Almost got it!" He twisted even more and held his breath to keep from grunting with the effort.

Alex's fingers brushed the zipper of his pocket once, twice, and then caught the pull between her fingers. They had to rock together to get the zipper undone, and then she finally got the knife in her hands. Alex straightened up as much as she could manage, trying to move the blade a safe distance from her partner. "Okay," she said, "I'm gonna open it now."

Bobby pulled his own hands in the opposite direction of hers as he tried to relax the bend of his knees.

"Okay, give me your hands," she commanded him. He wriggled back into position and she only knicked him twice before she found the right angle to get at the rope. Alex sawed and Bobby pulled his hands apart until finally, the rope gave with a snap.

"Yes!" He whispered frantically. He twisted his torso and grabbed the knife, cutting her hands free as well. Then he freed his ankles and handed the knife to her to work on her own ankles. With great effort, he got to his feet.

Alex noticed that he wasn't putting much weight on his left leg. "You're hurt," she whispered.

"Uh, yeah," he grunted.

"Can you walk on it?"

"I will," he told her. She raced to the other side of the room as quietly as she could and peered out the window.

"Looks like, third floor, maybe? Rickety fire escape. I think we can manage it."

Bobby was heading for a desk that stood near the door. She saw what he meant to do and rushed over to help him. Together, they slid it in front of the door, wedging it shut.

"You first, Bobby," she said, full voice, as their captors began struggling to get the door open. He limped as quickly as he could and heaved himself out the window, followed by Eames.

When they reached bottom, Sir Kicksalot was waiting for them, gun in hand. Bobby hurled himself at the man, forcing the barrel of the gun upward. It went off twice before it fell to the ground. Alex went after the gun, but the doorman with the nice smile beat her to it. She snatched the switchblade from her pocket and sliced his arm in a quick swipe. He dropped the gun and the smile. She used the gun to get the other man off Bobby while holding her own guy at a safe distance. The sirens drew closer, and then they were all ordered to the ground. Alex set the weapon down and did as she was told, announcing that she and Bobby were from Major Case.

It only took a few minutes to corroborate what she said, and she filled them in on what happened. Bobby gave his own version of the story, but he was being evaluated by the medics. He'd taken some very hard hits while brawling with 'Sir."

"You all right, Detective?" One of the medics asked her.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I'm… okay."

"You've got some blood here," he said, lifting her hair out of the way.

"Yeah, uh, he, uh, clocked me…uh, about lunchtime?"

"Is there room in that bus?"

"Yeah," the other medic called back.

"C'mon, you can ride with your partner."

"You okay, Bobby?" She asked him as she sat down on the bench beside the gurney he was on.

"Nothing life-threatening, Eames. I'll be all right." He grimaced and closed his eyes as the ambulance hit a pothole. He opened them again when he felt her hand over his.

"I'm glad you're okay, Bobby," she said quietly. "And I'm sorry… about what I said the other day."

He rolled his eyes and turned away. "Don't be sorry. It was true."

His reaction made her heart heavier. "You know, they say a good partnership… is like a good marriage."

He set his eyes on hers, listening as she squeezed his hand again.

"For better or worse, Bobby. We've had plenty of both. Personally, I think there's more… 'better'… to come. Especially if I'm honest enough to admit when I've been wrong." She squeezed his hand. "To say 'I'm sorry' when I've hurt you." She squeezed his hand again.

Now it was his turn to squeeze her hand. Though it was rare, she'd managed to render him speechless. Bobby knew if he tried to say anything, he wouldn't be able to hold in the tears that were already threatening.

"Bottom line is, Bobby, I chose this. I chose you. I chose us. And that's not a bad thing, partner." She gave him a smile, squeezed his hand again, and then leaned in to kiss his cheek.

Bobby closed his eyes, but he held on tight.


	3. Those Little Pills

Those Little Pills

Bobby rubbed his temples, trying to massage away the headache. He opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed the bottle of Tylenol. His hand paused at the little round container.

She never put the cover over it. He could see that she'd been taking the pills faithfully, every day, just as prescribed. She never forgot.

He scratched at his stubble with his fingers, still staring at the pill container. She did it for him, and he knew it.

Bobby sighed and closed the cabinet door. He sat down on the closed toilet and opened the bottle in his hand. He tossed two pills in his mouth and swallowed them quickly, frowning at the pain when one stuck a little in his throat. He swallowed again, forcing it down, and rubbed his temples again.

"Bobby, you okay?" Her voice was soft, the same as her hands.

He got up and opened the door for her. "Yeah, just a headache," he said. She petted his hair with her hand and slipped past him to take one of her birth control pills.

"You don't like them, do you?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "It's not a big deal, and it keeps us from getting pregnant."

"But you… you'd like to have a baby, wouldn't you?"

She closed the cabinet door and leaned her butt against the bathroom counter. Her eyes probed his. "I thought you didn't want to take the chance."

"I didn't ask you what I wanted."

"Well, I don't want to be the only one in this relationship who wants the kid, if we have one. Have you changed your mind?"

He sighed and hung his head, pressing his hands against it to quell the thrumming. "Am I just being, you know, paranoid about it? I mean, statistically, the odds are low."

"You said—"

"I know what I said!" He'd snatched his hands away and turned to snap at her. His anger faded and the pain returned.

Alex sighed and squatted in front of him so they could see eye to eye. "You don't have to give me a baby to prove you love me, Bobby."

He tossed his head and glanced away. "I could be a father," he said quietly.

"You'd be a great father," she agreed.

He looked up at her, surprised. He was always surprised by her faith in him. "I just want to know what you really think," he said. "Do you think I'm… overthinking this?"

"Bobby, you dealt with your Mother's illness all your life. Your concerns are valid."

"But…"

"What you really need to decide is if you want to take the chance. There is a possibility that we could have a schizophrenic child. Or we could have a kid with Down Syndrome, or a birth defect. Or we could have one who is completely healthy. There's no way to predict it, really. But you know what? I could love our baby, even if it isn't perfect." They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, and then Alex got back to her feet.

His hand wrapped around her waist and he pulled her close, resting his head against the softness of her belly. Bobby kissed her through her shirt. "I love you, Alex."

Alex rubbed his back.

"I want you to stop taking the pills." He looked up at her and smiled, and Alex smiled back.


	4. Smokers Outside of Hospital Doors

Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors

Goren's eyes shifted as he moved, taking in everything. From the cluster of three men and one woman smoking outside the hospital doors, to the ambulance team rushing inside with a new patient, to the intake nurse dropping her nail file and bending over to scoop it up from the floor under the counter, he saw them all.

He couldn't feel anything yet. Nothing but the buzz of being hupersensitive to everything. The hospital halls were so bright that his brain dimmed them. It was kind of like tunnel vision, only he could still make out every detail from the figures in the shadows.

His sense of hearing was another story. Everything around him seemed muffled. He could make out the sounds and process them a second or two later, but he heard them as if he were under water.

Deakins approached with his hand out. Bobby had to stop to collect the impact of his Captain's hand on his arm and the firm squeeze that followed before his brain could replay and process the man's words.

"Are you all right?" was what he said.

Bobby's eyes flitted around the room again, though mostly he focused on Captain Deakins. "I-y-yeah." Not the most coherent thing he'd ever said.

"Bobby, sit down over here a minute. You don't look so good." The Captain guided him to a row of chairs by the wall.

He tumbled gracelessly into the chair and immediately picked up on the raised voices of the couple on the other side of the room. He watched them until they glared at each other and the man stormed off.

Deakins followed Goren's gaze and watched the exchange, as well. Then he turned his attention back to his Detective. "I saw her before they took her back. She managed to give me a wave as they wheeled her past."

Bobby's eyes snapped to the Captain's and he frowned. To his dismay, he felt a tremor in his fingers.

"What happened out there, Bobby?" asked a very concerned Captain.

Goren stood abruptly, and almost lost his balance in the process. He pressed his palm against the wall to steady himself and used his other hand to scratch the back of his skull. "She… she got shot. I gotta get some air," he muttered as he took a few strides back to the main doors, noting that his tunnel vision seemed to have returned.

Jimmy Deakins scrutinized his newest detective. He took note of the man's sudden clumsiness, as well as the erratic movement of his eyes. He noted, too, that the man had barely been able to say more than a sentence or two. He followed Goren outside.

With a shaky hand, Bobby was trying to light his cigarette off the tip of another man's. Deakins watched as he finally succeeded and handed the loaner back. He watched Goren take a long, slow draw and slump against a lamp post.

"I didn't know you liked to smoke," he said casually, trying to do anything to make some headway with Goren.

"Yeah. All my life," Goren said, already starting to calm a little.

"It's not good for you, you know." _Stupid thing to say._

Goren turned his gaze on his Captain. "Yeah." He breathed out a long stream of smoke and noticed that his hands were steadier than a minute before. "I know that."

"What went down?" he asked very quietly, as if trying not to spook the man.

Bobby took another long draw before speaking. "We were going to clear the place," he said. We got through the door… Eames was lead…" A small cough, and another long draw, and then he continued, "We were heading left just past the entryway. I was visually focused on the right, since Eames was ahead and to my left. I didn't see…" The tremor made a reappearance, shaking his voice. Bobby paused and took the cigarette to his mouth again. "She shoved me, Jimmy. She shoved me hard and… and took a bullet for me."

"You returned fire?"

He nodded and sucked on what was left of the cigarette. "Two shots, and then the backup team was in. I let them go ahead and I tended to Alex."

Deakins' sharp eyes studied his Detective again. "You're sure you don't want to get checked out, yourself?"

He snubbed out the cigarette against the lamp post and sighed deeply. "I'm okay," he said quietly.

Without another word passing between them, the two men went back inside.

After another 15 minutes, Deakins pulled out his phone and read a text. "Your perp didn't make it."

Bobby grimaced at what that meant. Not only did he carry the guilt of shooting the man, he would also have to take administrative leave while IAB investigated the shooting. He reran the events of the day in his mind, over and over, until he was convinced he'd handled it all by the book.

It had been another 45 minutes before a nurse arrived. "You're for Detective Eames?" she asked.

Both men stood.

"She'd like to see you," the woman said with a smile.

They followed her to the windowed room that Alex was in. Her face was a little pale, but she was relaxed and didn't appear to be in pain. A bag of IV fluids was almost empty at her side, and she had a pulse oximeter on her finger providing the readings on the screen beside her bed.

She smiled at them both. "Hey," she said to her partner.

Bobby's eyes scanned her quickly, but her injury was hidden beneath a hospital gown that was draped over her torso.

"It's not bad, they said. Just a flesh wound."

He smiled at her.

"Alex," said Deakins, "I called your sister and she's on her way."

She smiled again, then she studied Bobby from the tip of his head down as far as she could see.

He gently touched the back of her hand with one finger.

"I'm glad you're okay, Alex," Deakins called. "I guess you two have a few things to talk about, so I'll—" his voice trailed away and he stepped out, returning to the waiting room.

"You saved me," he croaked once they were alone.

She shrugged, then winced. "It's my job," she explained.

He grasped her hand with his. "I'm glad you're all right."

"They said they'll probably send me home tonight, as long as my vitals look good."

A smile crossed his lips. "I'm glad."

"Bobby… can you…give me a ride?"

His smile grew, showing his teeth. "You bet." He pulled up a chair and scooted it as close to the bed as he could. "Now, as I recall, you were down by 3 at lunch."

She groaned and then chuckled. "All right, all right."

He smiled again. "Name the Broadway musical that's based on Romeo and Juliet."

"That's easy. West Side Story. That's the best you've got?"

"Take it easy on me. I've had a tough day."

They grinned at each other, and then he asked a new question. "Who starred in Casablanca?"

She smiled at him again. "It was my turn."

"I'm giving you a chance to catch up."

"I can beat you without the extra help."

"All right, you get two points for taking a bullet for me. Now answer the question."

"Still my turn."

"You're the most stubborn woman on the planet."

"What TV show was the first to feature a female cop in the lead role?"

"Police Woman. Your turn. The Casablanca question."

"You're still giving me easy ones."

"So are you."

"I've had a rough day, too." This time, when she smiled at him, Bobby leaned forward and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"It just… felt right."


	5. Straight Tequila Night

Straight Tequila Night

It started when the alarm didn't go off. Turns out, the power flickered during the night and her alarm clock reset itself to midnight when it was really 2:00 a.m. Since she had been working the case with Bobby until 1:00, she was sleeping hard when she should have been waking.

Bobby called her at 10:00 a.m. wondering where she was.

After that, the motor on her hair dryer overheated, leaving half her head wet and the other half smelling slightly of burnt wiring.

Then the car wouldn't start. For whatever reason, it took about eight tries before it finally turned over.

She did manage to avoid running over the bottle that a drunk guy threw on the street in front of her, but she pissed off everybody in lane she swerved into.

Ross chewed her ass for being late and not calling in. Then he let her have it for some paperwork that the ADA sent back because the paper had wrinkled in the printer and the report was illegible for a couple of paragraphs.

The coffee Bobby had provided for her was ice cold, and he was nowhere in sight when she finally sat down and choked herself on it.

Bobby cocked his head before he said hello. That's how bad she looked.

"Don't ask," was all she said.

He gave her an update on their current case, a nightmare of pathological liars who were all sleeping with each other on the side. The longer they investigated, the more Alex began to think the victim was the lucky one in the group.

Then there was some kind of activity on the second floor and the whole building was on lockdown for 45 minutes. All she could think of was that she could have stayed in bed a little longer.

They got sandwiches for lunch, and her mustard decided to swan dive on her baby blue blouse. She didn't even have a sweater or a vest to cover it up.

In the afternoon, they got a break in the case. She drove them to the office complex, and they finally got to interview their main suspect, a mid-level manager who had been out of town on business since the morning the body was discovered.

He lied as much as the rest of them, but he had a solid alibi that actually checked out.

Bobby had a stroke of genius at dinner, and they began to examine the card swipes at the office gym. It took three hours and they had to go back two years, but they finally figured out which liar was sleeping with their victim.

Bobby offered to take her out for a drink in celebration. "Bourbon for her," he said.

"No!" She called out, desperation in her voice. "Not tonight, Goren." She looked up at the waiter. "A doubleshot. Tequila, straight up."

Bobby's jaw dropped for a moment, but he recovered quickly. "I'll take one, too," he said with a shy grin.


End file.
